


Skin for Fur

by GhastlyDisco



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, F/F, Mild Gore, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 02:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12739152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhastlyDisco/pseuds/GhastlyDisco
Summary: Carmilla has vowed to be human. For the last hundred years she’s been living as a teenager, graduating from one high school and then moving on to the next.She’s made it to the 1990s, but a group of boys at her current school has taken to bullying her, unknowingly stirring the ancient bloodlust she swore to leave behind.She only needs to hold out a little longer before graduation, only has to hold out a little longer in order to keep her secret rage from the girl she loves…





	Skin for Fur

**Author's Note:**

> Please note the content warnings in the tags.

“It feels fucking great!” Will bellows from the back of the bus. “The trick is to store up the energy. You need to **really** want it.”

The sound of his voice makes Carmilla lower the volume on her Walkman in case one of the boys should try something. She turns on her side, puts her back against the window so no one is behind her. She keeps them in her peripheral vision while making sure not to look directly at them.

“Build up the juice a couple of weeks, and then…” Will claps his hands together, startling the whole class. “Boom! The wank of a lifetime.” He might as well have taken off his pants and done it then and there on the bus.

The huddle of boys erupt in the rudest laughter they can muster, and the ruckus makes Carmilla hunch her shoulders. She sees one of the seats by Laura and her friends is free, and she starts to get up, but she worries it will draw Will’s attention and sits back down.

It’s raining when they arrive at the nature preserve, and the papers with their assignment gets splashed as they’re divided into groups. A teacher goes through the herd, giving each student a number, meaning friends standing together get different ones. Carmilla hides alone in the back. She keeps glancing at Laura with her usual gang of girls, sees the teacher walk by them and hears when Laura gets put in group three.

Carmilla’s head darts around as she frantically calculates what number she’ll get. One, two… She’s going to be in group three! But then the kid next to her takes a step backward. _What are you doing?_ she screams inside her head, _You’re going to be counted_ **_after_ ** _me if you do that!_

Carmilla ends up in group two.

The students are sent out into the forest, and Carmilla trails behind her chattering group mates, petulantly staring at the muddy ground with her headphones on, deaf to the sound of someone walking up behind her. When she feels a hand on her shoulder, she whips around—but relaxes when it’s Laura.

“Jesus, Carm,” she laughs. “You don’t hear a thing with those things on.”

Carmilla lowers the headphones and nods toward the rest of her group. “That’s the whole point, creampuff.” she takes off her backpack and starts to put her headphones away. “I know they make me look like a nerd.”

“No,” Laura tries to reassure her, “they make you look like an airplane pilot or something.”

They ditch their groups and roam the woods together instead. The forest is regaining some of its colors, but spring in Maine doesn’t get particularly warm.

“Are you cold? Do you want to go back?” Carmilla asks reluctantly.

Laura shakes her head. “No. I like this.”

Laura is nervous about graduating. She got accepted by her first choice college, a pretty serious one, and she’s worried she won’t be able to keep up. Carmilla recites her made up plans—she’ll move to Europe, maybe they’ll see each other again, let’s exchange email addresses. The lie feels more forced than usual.

“I can’t wait to get away from this school,” she says truthfully. “But I’m not looking forward to having to start over.”

“Don’t worry, Carm. You’ll make a bunch of new friends, I just know it.”

“I wish I could come with you.” They both stop and look at each other.

“Carm…”

The moment is interrupted by a group of mice swarming the path ahead of them. They see Carmilla and freeze, standing stock-still and staring.

“What the what,” Laura mutters.

“What are you looking at?” Carmilla shouts at the mice.

They respond, “We came to see the monster who pretends it’s a girl.” Laura doesn’t seem to be able to hear them. Carmilla walks closer.

“Um, Carm?”

She kneels down and tries to keep her voice low. “That’s not what I am anymore. I **am** a girl.”

“It says it’s a girl!” they titter, “It’s eaten one too many! Got girls on the brain!”

“Laura, let’s go.”

But the mice follow behind them, making Laura cast nervous glances over her shoulder. “This is so creepy.”

The mice yell, “Skin for fur! Wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

Walking along a stream of water, they come face to face with a large raven sitting on a tree branch. At the sight of it, the mice scatter into the forest, and Carmilla almost feels like thanking it until it looks at her and hums, “Oh it’s you, skin for fur.” She glares at it and it responds, “What? Everyone knows about the beast with girl’s skin.”

Laura and Carmilla pass the bird and walk into a clearing with a pond swollen from the downpour. On their way around, Laura pauses for a moment and picks up a stick. She drops it into the foggy water and they watch it bob to the surface. Carmilla takes a deep breath, she clenches and unclenches her fist.

Finally, she says, “Can I ask you something?”

Laura doesn’t turn from the water, “Yeah. Shoot.”

“Do you remember Danny’s party the other night? You were pretty drunk.”

“Oh God,” she hides her face in her hands, “I remember.”

“Do you remember when I found you in her parents’ closet?”

A muffled, “Yes.”

“What you said to me…”

Laura lowers her hands to look Carmilla in the eye. Her face is pleading, a little scared. Carmilla is nervous too—she feels younger, more human than she’s felt in years.

Just above a whisper, she asks, “Did you mean it? Because if you still want that,” she swallows, “I want that too.”

“Carm,” she says, voice trembling, “I’m going to college. You’re moving to Europe. How would it work? When will we see each other?” Her voice cracks and she looks away, blinks back tears before muttering, “I feel so stupid. Ever since freshman year I’ve been dancing around this. We could’ve had all this time together, and I blew it.”

Carmilla instinctively puts her arm around her. “You didn’t blow it, creampuff. Since we met, you’ve been the best friend I’ve had. So what if we weren’t in love? I’m so glad to have spent this time with you either way.”

Laura laughs wetly into her shoulder and hugs her back. “But I was always in love with you.”

The rain turns into gray mist that settles into the forest around them, blocking out the rest of the world from the clearing where they stand kissing, holding onto each other.

The nearby sound of their classmates laughing and shouting reminds them that it’s time to head back. They start toward the way they came when suddenly someone calls Carmilla from the pond. She lets go of Laura’s hand to see who it is.

“Ssskin for fur.” It’s a snake lying in the water.

“This is not a good time. Can’t you just let us have this one moment to ourselves?” She flips the snake off, but when she turns back Laura isn’t there. “Laura?” she calls into the mist.

“Once you’ve sssunken your teeth into her, will you let me have a taste?”

“Shut up!” she sprints into the forest, stumbling over roots and rocks that the mist spews at her feet. She runs too fast, stumbles and falls to her knees.

A figure comes out of the woods, but it’s not Laura. It’s Will, and suddenly there’s another one, and another. Five or six of them tower over her. Somebody spits on the ground near her, making her flinch. They jeer like children, thrilled to have cornered an animal they can torment.

Her thundering heartbeat drowns them out. The giant raven from earlier cries from a nearby tree, and to Carmilla it’s deafening. “Go away!” she yells at it, and the boys are delighted. Will shoves her into the shallow stream. The raven won’t stop wailing.

As soon as Will pushes her head in the water, her eyes change to red. The raven flies from it’s branch, and before Carmilla knows it she wakes up inside an ambulance.

She’s alarmed to find Will lying on a stretcher beside her. He’s got EMTs attending him, his face all wrapped up in bandages. He’s breathing through an oxygen mask. Carmilla curses loudly and punches the wall of the ambulance.

* * *

“I think they’ll let me out tomorrow,” she tells Laura over the phone. “I’ve got a couple of bruises, that’s all.”

“Have you gotten something to eat?”

“Yes,” she lies.

“Good. Call me as soon as you get home okay?”

“I promise.”

There isn’t much to do after that. Carmilla goes back to the crowded hospital room and looks through her soaked backpack, but her Walkman is beyond hope. Luckily, one of her books is only **partially** ruined, so she grabs that, as well as a fistful of change, and walks out to the vending machine in the deserted waiting area.

She gets a chocolate bar and sits down in one of the chairs, _Of Mice and Men_ in one hand and the chocolate bar in the other. A woman enters the waiting area, and Carmilla overhears her at the desk.

“I’m here to see Carmilla Karnstein.”

“What do you want?” asks Carmilla loudly.

The woman turns around. They’re the only people in the room. “Sister?”

“I don’t answer to that anymore.”

She walks over, looks down at the pile of coins lying on the chair next to Carmilla before taking a seat on the other side. “Don’t you look adorable.” She pokes the band aid on Carmilla’s chin but her hand gets swatted away. “Living as a human is turning out great for you.”

“Did you steal some poor woman’s body just to come rub my failures in my face?”

“I came to see whether my dear sister’s little indulgence has finally run its course.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“What should I call you then?” A wicked smile. “Antichrist? Old one? Or skin for fur?”

Carmilla sits up in her seat. “Who came up with that?” When the woman chuckles, she sinks back down. “I should have known.”

“Life as a human has taken away your sense of humor. It must be very lonely.”

“Actually, it’s not. I met someone, someone who makes me feel less lonely than I ever felt when I was one of you.”

“One of us?” The woman gives a tight-lipped smile. ”And what is that?”

“Murderers, maybe animals. But I’m more than that. While you’re trapped in an endless cycle of violence, I have a future.”

“Do you now? A future with your human pet, I assume.”

Carmilla starts to fidget with her chocolate bar. “Maybe one day, when she’s older, I can tell her the truth about me.”

“She’ll hate what you are.”

“She will know that’s not what I am. She will know that I’m just her classmate, that I’m just a,” Carmilla sighs, “a girl who loves her.”

The woman rises to her feet. “Let’s see how sympathetic she is once she’s seen your nature catch up to you.”

“Go to hell.”

The woman grins. “I believe I will see you there. Everyone misses you.”

* * *

Carmilla is carrying her stuff to her locker when she meets Laura. She’s greeted with a peck on the cheek which makes her look up and down the hallway to check who saw.

“Carm, what’s wrong?”

The boys from their class are nowhere in sight, so Carmilla picks up Laura’s hand and kisses it. “Nothing, creampuff.”

Laura giggles at her, holds onto her hand and gives it a squeeze, “You scared me yesterday. The guys said you were attacked by a bird.” Carmilla stays silent. “I’m glad you didn’t end up like Will.”

They reach Carmilla’s locker. “He’ll be fine. Honestly, the real tragedy is my tape player.”

“It broke? I’m sorry Carm. I know how you really loved that thing.”

Carmilla opens her locker and finds a live mouse inside. Laura yelps and backs away. There’s a snigger from across the corridor where a bunch of jocks (sans Will) have gathered to watch her reaction, as if they’ve given her a taste of her own medicine.

“Skin for fur, it’s you!” squeaks the mouse. No one but Carmilla can hear it. It stomps its tiny paws against the floor of the locker. “Those lowlives put me through hell! Go on, rip them to shreds! Slaughter them!” Somehow, it’s really cute.

One of the jocks tries way too hard, yelling, “Suck it!” and gets slapped on the shoulder by another.

“Kirsch, shut up!”

“This isn’t funny,” Laura snaps at the boys.

Carmilla puts a hand on her arm. “Leave it, creampuff. They’re just trying to freak me out.” She looks down at her crumpled copy of _Mice and Men_ that she’s carrying, then she turns back to her locker and gently strokes the mouse over the head.

“Don’t touch me, you traitor!” it cries but leans closer. “If you don’t have the guts, let me have a go! I’ll kill every single one of them!”

“I actually don’t mind this little guy,” she tells Laura. The jocks’ eyes widen in surprise.

* * *

The next couple of weeks pass quickly. Carmilla follows Laura home after school, and as they get on their bicycles she glances over her shoulder for Will’s car, but he’s still in the hospital. Her and Laura have the thawing roads completely to themselves. Their laughter make little clouds as they zigzag and make their shadows play tag.

They sit in Laura’s sofa and watch VHS tapes. Carmilla puts an arm around Laura, and Laura cuddles up to her. While Carmilla rubs circles on her shoulder, she presses a kiss against her neck, and they do not make it to the end of the film.

At school, Carmilla brings pieces of fruit to feed the mouse now living in her locker. She pats it on the head and then takes out her ruined tape player just to try it one more time, but it was never waterproof.

During exams, Will still isn’t there. She sits with her finished tests and doesn’t hand them in before Laura is done.

Later, they arrive at Laura’s house, park their bikes and go to her room.

“I wanted to give you something.” She opens her closet and takes out a pristine-looking cassette player and headphones. “My dad got this for Christmas years ago, but he’s never used it.”

“Creampuff, you can’t give this to me,” she says, eyes wide. But she finds it impossible to take her eyes off it or to hide the look of absolute reverence on her face.

Her expression makes Laura beam. “It’s yours. It’s getting weird seeing you without headphones on,” she jokes. “I don’t even know what it was you listened to all day.”

“I can show you. I’ve got a couple tapes in my bag.”

While Carmilla rummages through her backpack, Laura gathers her courage before asking, “Do you wanna stay over tonight? We can listen together.”

Carmilla looks up, and when she sees Laura tentative, hopeful expression she strokes her cheek. She kisses her and says, “That sounds perfect.”

* * *

Laura follows Carmilla to her locker.

“Will you hold this for me just a second?” Carmilla hands her the banana she’s carrying.

“But you never eat fruit.”

“It’s for Lennie.” Carmilla takes out her keys.

“Who’s Lennie?”

“You two didn’t get off to a great start, but I think you’ll like him once you get to know him.” She opens the locker. Both her and Laura freeze when they see what’s inside.

The mouse, Lennie, is cut open, a bloody mess that’s splattered all over the walls and floor of the locker. A murmur of voices make them turn toward the end of the hallway.

“You should try it, Kirsch. It feels fucking great. The trick is to store up the energy, you know. Really want it.”

Carmilla doesn’t want to believe it, but she knows that voice. Round the corner comes Will and his buddies, including Kirsch.

“We missed it,” Will moans. “Hey nerd, could you just replay your reaction to opening the locker for us.”

Laura is white as a sheet, completely stunned, and Carmilla is vibrating with rage. She takes a step forward and says through gritted teeth, “You stay the hell away from me.”

“Yeah? I will if you tell me how you got that bird to do that.”

“What bird?”

Will explodes, startling his friends. “The one that sliced me up! What the fuck did you do with it?”

“How should I know the deal with a freaking **bird**!”

“You did something! You made that bird go for me!” He grabs her arm, and the lights start flickering. “How are you doing that?” says Will, but he sounds more frightened than angry.

A metallic rumbling fills the hall. It grows louder and louder as the lights change color to red one after the other.

“Carm?” Laura’s voice is shaky.

Then, the ventilation shafts burst open and wave after wave of mice spill out onto the floor, making the boys run down the corridor. Laura and Carmilla dive into a classroom across from Carmilla’s locker and slam the door shut.

They look at each other a long while, Laura trying to figure her out, and Carmilla trying to figure out what Laura is thinking.

“Carmilla?”

She’s cut off by a voice over the PA system urging everyone to calmly evacuate the school.

* * *

The next day, Carmilla drags her into the restroom to talk.

“What’s wrong? Carm, you’re sweating.”

She takes Laura’s face in her hands. “I’ve thought about us cupcake, and I know there’s a time limit on this, but it doesn’t have to end.”

Laura silences her with a kiss. “I don’t want it to end. But I don’t want you to give up on Europe because of me.”

“I lied about Europe.”

“What?” and she looks scared again.

“Laura, I need to tell you something. I wanted to wait, but I can’t—” A loud fart from the boys’ restroom on the other side of the wall interrupts her. Laura bursts out laughing. “Hey this is important. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to tell you before I completely lose it. I’m at the end of my goddamned rope.”

But before she can tell her, Will and Kirsch come barging in. Kirsch blocks the door.

“What the hell? Get out!” Carmilla barks.

Will walks up to her and the two of them get into a scuffle. Laura tries to pull him off, but he wrangles Carmilla’s backpack from her and tosses it to Kirsch.

“Hurry up!” Will grunts as he staves off the girls. Kirsch pulls out the cassette player and oversized headphones and Will snatches them from his hand. “Is this what made the rats go crazy? This some kinda… supersonic machine?”

“Will hold on,” says Kirsch. “It’s just a cassette player, man. It looks expensive.”

“Shut up!” He raises it above his head, and Carmilla immediately goes still.

“Don’t you dare. That was a gift.”

Her eyes are dark, and it makes him hesitate for just a moment, but then he throws it into the floor, smashing it into a million pieces. Carmilla shrieks. The lights begin to flicker again. The boys don’t know what to do. **Laura** doesn’t know what to do.

Will grabs Laura with both arms and shouts, “Stop it! Make it stop!” She doesn’t stop. “Kirsch just left a floater in the boys’ stall okay? Make it stop or I dunk this loser in it!”

Laura is screaming, Will is screaming, Carmilla is screaming—she’s completely overwhelmed.

And now Kirsch is screaming too. “Will! I don’t wanna do this anymore!”

“Get out of the way shithead!”

“No, I don’t wanna do it anymore!”

Carmilla roars, “Let go of her!” and as she says it her eyes turn red, then suddenly the lights go out. Everyone falls silent.

Now Kirsch tears at the door handle, but it won’t open.

“Carm?” Laura whispers into the dark but she’s gone.

Behind her, Will is pulled away, and Laura falls to the floor. She can’t see him, but he cries out in pain like nothing she’s ever heard before. There’s a disgusting, wet crunching sound. Then there’s another. And another. And now she hears Kirsch whimper and go silent. She hears a growl like a tiger from her left, no her right. No, behind her. What’s happening?

The lights come on again, one at a time, revealing the bathroom painted red with blood and gore. The floor is completely covered, save for the still-dry circle around Laura. She can’t take it in, doesn’t believe her eyes.

She turns around and sees Carmilla. Sees her.


End file.
